Real World: What Goes Bump in the Night
by Tatiana Belikova
Summary: Rose is an average high school teen; Dimitri is the football team captain. They make the most unlikely couple but they fit. But something's not right. From offhand comments to weird actions, Rose realises something is off about her boyfriend but too late. Will she survive this Halloween? Or will her ignorance cause her to become something's dinner? Contest entry


**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

**My Contest Entry for the Love Fades, Mines has – A VA lover's group Halloween contest. **

** RPOV: **

I have had my eye on Dimitri Belikov for a long time.

I watched, trying to figure out what was so funny, as he laughed with a bunch of his football buddies, his handsome brown haired head thrown back as the muscles in his chest rippled, shown clearly through his tight black shirt.

"You know, if you stare at him any harder your eyes will burn off," Lissa Dragomir, my beautiful, blonde best friend said, not looking up from her book.

"I know he knows I exist. Hell, we talk almost every day in the classes we have together, which is like five," I replied, not taking my eyes off the boys.

"I know," Lissa said drily, turning a page. "I have to see you two flirt to the point of clothes removal on a daily basis. It's kind of sickening."

I rolled my eyes, but then immediately dropped them and pretended to be looking in my notebook as Dimitri looked my way.

"What's sickening, besides Rose's face?" Christian Ozera said plopping down on the other side of Lissa, planting a kiss on her cheek.

I rolled my eyes again, glancing out of the corner of my eye to see if Dimitri was still looking at me. Not that I needed to; I could feel the heavy weight of his gaze, warmer than a bonfire. I tried to act casual.

Turning to Christian, I fixed my dark brown eyes on his dark blue ones. "My face is not sickening, it's stunningly beautiful," I replied haughtily.

Christian put a mock-sympathetic look on his face. "I understand why you think that, since you haven't looked in the mirror...well, your entire life, since they break when you're reflected, but, I hate to break it to you..." He hesitated, looking at me pityingly. "They don't break because they can't stand your beauty, as your mother says. They break because you're so _ugly." _

I couldn't help the smile that curled my lips up. "Well played. How long have you been working on that one?" I asked, smirking.

Christian gestured to himself. "What, this? I didn't have to work on it at all; this perfection is totally natural."

I burst out laughing. "When's the last time you saw yourself in a mirror that didn't break?"

"He's a vampire; he can't see his reflection. Of course, he's so ugly the mirror breaks anyway," a deep male voice with a Russian accent joked, startlingly close to my ear.

I felt myself jolt to attention, the hairs on my entire body standing up with awareness. My breathing deepened as the sweet smell of his aftershave wafted into my nostrils. _Dimitri. _

After a second used to gather my thoughts, which had scattered with his voice, I turned to him playfully. "How did you know he was a vampire? Was it the pale face, snarky attitude, or the fact that he's totally morbid that tipped you off?" I let a sexy smirk make itself at home on my face.

His eyes trailed my face, taking in every part, before they returned to look deep in my eyes.

"It was the fact that he is clearly allergic to sunlight," he said huskily, lowering his voice as if we were sharing some private joke.

_Keep cool, keep cool. _I chanted to myself. This is the closest he had ever been to me; in class, we were always separated by the individual desks, or other people. Suddenly, I was thanking every God I knew for the fact that our teacher had left suddenly, and there was no sub to take over the class so we had to be sent to the library.

"Mm, I was thinking more like the fact that he clearly sucks the life out of everyone," I murmured back, looking up at him from my eyelashes. He shifted in his chair, which was only five inches away from mine, moving his leg closer to mine.

I was hyper aware at how close our legs were to touching, and desperately tried to find some casual way to let them touch.

Dimitri chuckled lowly, looking down at me. His shoulder length hair fell forward, making me want to move it out of his gorgeous, dark brown eyes.

It seemed as if my subconscious took over for a moment; my hand was halfway to his face before I realized it had moved. Instead of dropping it, like any normal, sane person would have, and suffered the slight awkward moment it would ensue, I allowed my hand to travel all the way up to his face and brush his hair back behind his ear.

His hair felt like the silk it looked like, something I had always wondered about. My fingertips lightly brushed his skin, sending a warm current through me. I swore I could see sparks forming where we had skin to skin contact. I retracted my hand.

It took me a moment to realize what I had done, but when I did, I looked down, embarrassed. _Why had I been to forward?! I think I just blew all chances of him asking me out. _I cursed myself out silently, wishing a hole in the floor would appear and swallow me up whole. My face felt on fire as I faced the dilemma of either ignoring this moment, or apologizing. I swallowed nervously and dared to look up once more.

Dimitri was staring intensely at me and suddenly the rest of the world no longer existed. Of course, the world always disappeared when I was with him previously, but now it was as if it never existed in the first place.

"_Roza." _

It was the only word he whispered, but it felt like a whole page of words. My Russian name, which he called me at times, was filled with meaning, overflowing with hand caught mine underneath the table while his other hand raised to my face. He tucked my hair, which had swung forward when I looked down, back like I did his. I swallowed again, this time in anticipation. I took a deep breath and felt my tongue dart out to lick my lips as Dimitri leaned forward. I mimicked his movement, and we were inches apart when the rest of the world came rushing back.

At first, I was so lost and dazed that I didn't realize what all the noise was, but then Dimitri closed his eyes in frustration, before opening them again and looking at me apologetically and pulling back with a sigh. I blinked several times, trying to clear the haze in my mind that our near kiss had created. When it was finally cleared, I realised that the noise was Dimitri's teammates making catcalls and hooting.

I felt my face burning as I looked away from Dimitri. _God, this is sooo embarrassing, _I thought to myself. Belatedly, I realized that we were still holding hands. Looking down, I wondered if I should let go. It felt so good to have his hand in mine, however, like I had been in pain or burning and didn't realize it until the pain was gone, that I didn't want to ever let go.

The boys were still hooting when the librarian told them to either quiet down or leave. Slowly, they calmed down, but I could tell from the looks they were giving Dimitri that they were simply saving it for later in the locker room or on the field.

Dimitri sighed, making me glance over at him. He looked frustrated and slightly upset. He looked at me sideways, a boyish smile dimpling his cheek as he realized I was looking at him too.

"I'm sorry for that," he murmured, leaning close to my head so that we could talk privately.

I felt my cooling cheeks start to burn again as he reminded me of what happened only moments ago. _What is happening to me? _I wondered, horrified. I never blushed!

I cleared my throat. "It's alright," I whispered back shakily. _Where did that leave us?_I wondered.

Dimitri seemed to be thinking the same thing, because his smile widened. Glancing down at our conjoined hands, he looked up at me almost shyly.

"Will you go out with me?" he blurted out, then looked down, his cheeks reddening. I could tell he was mortified as he tried to let my hand go, as if I was going to laugh at him.

Sadly, I proved him right. I couldn't help but chuckle at how absolutely adorable he looked right now. He was now almost frantic in his attempts to let my hand go, but I held on tight. Something told me that he could have easily gotten out of my grip, but let me win.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh," I murmured, looking at him with a smile.

He must have taken it the wrong way, because I could see his muscles tense and his jaw clench. I almost thought that his eyes changed color, but decided it was a trick of the light.

"Oh, no, not like!" I hurried to reassure him. I scowled, trying to gather my thoughts. "I mean..." I took a deep breath and used my other hand to turn his face toward mine. He swallowed and took a deep breath, a blank expression showing on his face, as if readying himself for rejection. His eyes, on the other hand, spoke legions. He was clearly nervous and hopeful, but also terrified.

"Yes, I would love to go out with you," I said quietly, looking deep into his eyes.

He slumped, defeated, and I felt my brow furrow. Isn't that what he wanted?

"I understand," he murmured, pulling away from me. Gently, he pried apart our hands, so mine just dangled on my side while his was clenched in his lap. I could see him swallowing several times, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Suddenly, I realize that he had thought I was going to say no, so he had prepared his speech before hand. I felt a smile creep onto my face and tried to suppress it as I waited for my words to hit him.

Dimitri sat slouched for a good minute, before my words registered. I could see the exact moment they did, too, because he froze, then looked up in disbelief. He seemed to be running my words through his mind, trying to figure out if they were real. His head whipped to look at me, his eyes searching mine. I could no longer hold my smile back and let it loose on my face.

"Did you just say...yes?" he asked, looking as if he had just been tackled by five consecutive pro football players.

I giggled. "Yep." _Giggled?! _

"That's - that's great!" He looked astoundingly happy.

I looked at him curiously. "Why did you think I would -" I was cut off by the bell.

He looked at me ruefully. "Someone up there doesn't want us to talk, it seems, or do anything else for that matter," he added the last part in a mutter.

I smiled. "Walk me to class?" I asked hopefully.

Dimitri grinned at me. "Why of course, milady," he joked, holding out his arm.

Laughing, I reached down to get my books only to realize they were no longer on the table. Glancing at Dimitri, I opened my mouth to say someone had taken them, only to realize that they were in his arms.

"You didn't really think I'd let you carry your own books, did you?" He smiled at me slyly.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled back. I hooked my arm around his and we walked out of the library to the highway that was the hallway. Waiting for a break in the traffic of people, we got a lot of second looks. I didn't think that anyone had expected that the great Dimitri Belikov, football extraordinaire, would be arm in arm with Rose Hathaway, hot girl with about three friends, who was mostly insignificant in the grand scheme of things but with a list of detentions longer than a Chinese phone book.

There was a slight break, and we took advantage of it, joining the stream of people on the left side of the hall.

We couldn't walk arm in arm any longer, since there wasn't enough room for two people to be side by side comfortably without knocking into people, so we held hands instead.

This got us even more looks, and the whispers began. I sighed. _High school. _

"So, after practice tonight..." He paused as we veered off to my locker.

"Yes?" I nodded for him to continue as I got books for my next class. The crowds in the hallway were thinning, meaning the bell would ring in about a minute.

"Wanna go somewhere, I don't know, like the movies? Or dinner," he hurriedly tacked on, as if afraid I would think he wanted to be with me solely for making out.

I chuckled. "Yeah, sure. Want me to stay after school?" I closed my locker. "Do you need to go to your locker?" I added as we began to walk to my class.

Dimitri shook his head. "No, I'm good. And you don't have to stay after school; I could pick you up."

I thought about it for a moment as we stopped in front of my class. Glancing at the clock in the classroom, I looked back at him.

"You're going to be late, you better get going," I said, having to crane my neck to look at his face.

Dimitri shrugged. "No one ever cares if I'm late," he replied. "So...?"

"I'll just stay after school. I usually do anyway, since Lissa has play practice and she's my ride," I said, shrugging too.

He looked at me for a long moment, before nodding. "Alright, meet you at your locker after class?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. Where- never mind," I cut myself off hastily.

He smiled. "I'll sit with you," he said, guessing I was asking about lunch. The bell rang, reminding us that we were in school. "Alright, I'm heading off. See you in forty-five minutes." He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek quickly, before striding off to his class. I stayed there, stunned, for several second, before walking into class and to my seat.

* * *

"Ugh, I hate math!" I groaned, slamming my locker shut.

Dimitri chuckled as we began walking to lunch. "It's not so bad. Besides, it's senior year. In a few short months, you won't have to worry about math any more," he said cheerfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Christ, don't remind me. I still don't know what I'm going to major in college, or what college I'm going to." I sighed.

** "**You still don't know?" he asked in disbelief.

I shrugged. "No, not really. What about you?" I looked up at him briefly before going back to watching where I was going.

** "**Well, with my football, I can get a scholarship to pretty much any school." He hesitated, seeming to debate about something before deciding to tell me. "I'm thinking about staying close to home, though. My major...as weird as it sounds, I want to be a history teacher."

I looked at him curiously. "Why stay close? I'd love to get out of this small town, maybe travel the world." I stopped myself from blurting out a bunch of personal information that no one but my own mind had heard.

"I-well, my family...we're close. Who would be there to protect my mom and sisters if I'm gone?" He looked oddly vulnerable in that moment.

I wanted to say something, anything, but the burning in my throat stopped me. My family was fractured, a shadow of one. Hearing him care so much about his family, I couldn't help but wish my own was as close and loving. I didn't know what it was about him that brought out the emotional side of me, and I didn't know if I liked or hated it. I was tough; nothing hurt me. Suddenly, this emotional talk seemed too serious, making the air feel heavy and almost closed in, like I was wrapped in plastic wrap.

I dropped his hand and hurried to the lunch line.

"Oh, look, it's Stromboli, my school favorite," I called back. "Hurry before all the good pieces are gone." I cut in front of a bunch of juniors, snapping, "Senior privileges," when they complained.

Dimitri stepped into line behind me, and suddenly the juniors were very glad to let us in front of them. I grabbed a tray with both hands as an excuse to not hold his hand. Pretending to be totally focused on food, I thought out loud about the food choices.

"Hm, do I want a heel? Of course, I do! Corn? Yeah sure. Oh, and rice, that's..." I avoided conversation as long as I could. Usually, I really was this excited about food, but today, for some reason the thought of eating turned my stomach.

I paid for my lunch, then quickly walked to my table at the back of the cafeteria, near the windows.

"Rose? Rose! Wait up!" I felt Dimitri walk up to me so we were walking next to each other. "Are you really that hungry?"

"Uh huh. You'll learn quickly that me plus food equals no one talks to me until my tray is empty," I joked, staring straight ahead as if I was worried about bumping into someone.

Once I reached our table, I dropped my tray on it with a sharp _thump._The noise startled Lissa and Christian, who had been making out, apart.

"Thank you," I said primly as I sat down. "I'd rather not barf up this delicious lunch."

"Sorry, Rose," Lissa apologized, blushing.

Christian snorted. "Don't apologize, Lissa. It's not like Rose needs to eat anymore." He smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him, knowing he was joking.

Dimitri apparently did not.

"Don't talk about Rose like that," Dimitri snapped, glaring at Christian. His eyes looked almost black, but I figured it was because he was mad and the lack of lights - the lights by the windows were always off - just added the effect.

Christian rolled his eyes. "She knows I'm kidding. No need to get your fur in a knot."

I frowned at his choice of words, as did Lissa.

Dimitri's glared intensified. "I don't give a damn. You have no right so much as looking at her."

Christian suddenly looked mad. Very mad. "Oh, and you do? At least I can control myself," he taunted Dimitri.

It appeared as if Christian crossed a line that should not be crossed, because Dimitri was so mad he started to shake.

I put my hand on either side of his face and forcefully turned his head so I could look him in the eye.

"Chill," I said sternly. "He didn't mean anything by it, it was just a joke, and I know that. It's just the way we are, like siblings. No need to freak."

Feeling his skin on mine, the sparks started flying again. Dimitri slowly calmed down, and so did I. I didn't realize I had reacted the same way as Dimitri on a subconscious level. The effect he had on me unnerved me, but I couldn't see myself walking away. I had wanted this, and still do, far too much for too long to back out now just because my feelings and reactions to him were more intense than I had anticipated.

After his breathing evened out, Dimitri continued looking into my eyes. I felt a thrill go through me from the look in his eyes.

"Are you done with your temper tantrum now?" This time it was my turn to grit my teeth in anger.

"Seriously Chris? Your head was almost torn off by the Varsity star quarterback and you come back for seconds?" I snapped at him.

I could feel Dimitri chuckle next to me as Christian stared at me in shock. Dimitri put his arms around me and pulled me back into his chest.

"Chill," he murmured into my ear, his breath hot on my skin, causing goosebumps to form. My back felt searing hot, but a good kind of hot, one that spread from Dimitri's body into mine in a slow burn, like lava slowly pouring down a volcano. "He didn't mean anything by it, it was just a joke, and I know that," he continued to mimic my words, while his body wreak havoc on my hormones.

"Wow, what's this? Free porn?" Dimitri and I simultaneously sighed and pulled away at the voice.

"I didn't know you invited your teammates to sit with us." I looked questionably at Dimitri.

He shrugged. "His choice. I just said I wasn't sitting with them," he replied, taking a bite of Stromboli.

Adrian Ivashkov sat down on the other side of Dimitri, leaving a scent trail of cigarettes and booze in his wake.

Adrian was followed by Mason. "What are they here for?" Mason asked sullenly as he sat next to me.

I swallowed my mouthful of food, knowing his distaste of the football players. "Dimitri is here cause he's my boyfriend, and Adrian is here cause he's a loser and follows Dimitri like a lost puppy," I replied before inhaling more food.

Mason's scowl increased. "Since when was he your boyfriend?" he asked.

I shrugged, unable to answer. Dimitri answered for me.

"Since the end of the period before last," he said promptly.

Eddie arrived before Mason could respond. "Didn't know we were having a party," he remarked as he sat down next to Mason, oblivious of the tension.

"We're not," Mason snapped, suddenly in a foul mood. I knew it was because he had a crush on me, but I also knew it would never turn into anything more; I saw him as my brother and best friend, nothing else.

"Anyway..." Dimitri turned to me. "You're staying after school still, right?"

I nodded. "Yup. Where are we going? Have you figured it out yet?"

Dimitri nodded. "Yeah. I'm taking you to the restaurant in town," he said.

Sadly, he didn't have to specify which one; there was only one.

"And then this Friday, I'm taking you on a real date, hopefully out of town," Dimitri continued.

"Cool," I said casually, while on the inside I was screaming with joy. I couldn't help but be ecstatically excited for this. I had been after Dimitri since freshman year; we'd often talked in class, and flirted at times, but never hung out outside of school, except for those rare times when I was staying after with Lissa and football had been canceled and he had to wait for his mom or sister to pick him up. Of course, that had also ended at the end of sophomore year when he got his license. We had come across each other several times over the last summer vacation, which was probably why he had asked me out now, in the middle of September. Dimitri and I could never really be called friends; we came from different circles. He was gorgeous, tall, strong and a football player. Many girls were after him, but oddly, he was never with any one of them. I was just me.

Lunch and the rest of the classes flew by. Dimitri met me after each class and walked me to the next one, even if it was completely on the other side of the school from his. I was surprised he was so gallant and chivalrous; most guys didn't do that for their girlfriends even after months of dating, and here he was, doing all this on the first day. I asked him why he was doing it, carrying my books, walking me to class, meeting me after class, and his response was that was how he was raised. Well, however he was raised, his mother did it right.

* * *

School finally ended and I met Dimitri at my locker. Together, we headed off to the football field hand in hand. Dimitri led me toward the bleachers.

"You'll have to sit here," he said apologetically. "If you don't want to sit out here, you can leave. It'll probably get really boring."

I shrugged. "It's warm out today, it's sunny, and it's beautiful. I'll hang out here. If I get bored, I'll do homework or whatever." I gave him my man-eater smile. "Or, you know, you could find some way to practice shirtless; I'll never get tired of watching _that,_**"**

Dimitri gulped, his eyes darkening. "Keep talking like that and you'll get yourself in trouble," he growled, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me into his chest so that my feet were dangling off the ground.

I let out a small shriek at the sudden movement and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Dimitri!" I cried out, laughing.

"Yes? That's my name." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Put me down!" I laughed.

"No, I don't think so," He replied, and continued walking to the bleachers.

I surrendered myself with a pout.

"Anyone ever tell you how adorable you look like that?" Dimitri asked.

I shook my head. "Nope," I replied, popping the 'p.'

"Well, you do."

He set me down at the bottom of the bleachers. "Now be a good girl." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes and smacked him lightly on the head. "Go away," I joked.

Dimitri smiled once more, then kissed me on the cheek and jogged off to practice.

* * *

After practice, Dimitri took me to the restaurant, as promised. Even though the restaurant itself was nothing special, the date was awesome.

I always thought that if we ever went out, it would be the usual awkward first date, just getting to know each other on a different level than friends, but it was as if we had been together our entire lives. We never ran out of topic to talk about, although I strayed away from the heavy ones, such as family. We were so comfortable around each other, there were times where I wondered if it was all a dream; surely, nothing in real life was this perfect?

During a lull in the conversation, Dimitri brought up Homecoming.

"I know it's still over a month away," he began, "but...will you go to Homecoming with me?"

I smiled at him. "Of course!" I replied as casually as I could, while on the inside I was freaking out with happiness. I had gone to Homecoming every year by myself and had danced with him at least one dance, but that was all. I couldn't wait for the dance now that he was my date; I would be able to hang around him the entire time and not be called weird or stalkerish.

Dimitri grinned back happily. "You know, the only reason why I ever went to the dance was because, well, I had to, but besides that, I went just to see you." He looked at me shyly.

"Seriously?" I asked incredulously.

Dimitri nodded.

"Why didn't you ever ask me?" I asked.

Dimitri shrugged. "I didn't think you would say yes. I mean, you went to the dances and you danced with me a couple songs, but every other one you danced with Mason and Eddie, and all your other friends. And your friends are the type to not like football players, so I figured it was like that with you. Even though you flirted with me, I didn't think it went beyond that."

"So how come you never asked any other girl out?"

Dimitri shrugged again. "I wasn't interested, and I didn't believe with the whole, 'make her jealous to find out if she likes you' idea that all the guys seem to have," he replied matter-of-factly. "And if you _did _like me, something I highly doubted, then I didn't want you to think I wasn't interested, or have your opinion of me change."

I nodded in understanding. "So, what about Tasha?" I asked teasingly. Tasha had been a senior girl whom he'd not dated, but kind of had a thing with. She had pretty much declared him her boyfriend and was all over him until he finally stopped it.

Dimitri blushed. "Don't remind me," he muttered, shuddering. At Homecoming our freshmen year, she had been literally all over him, practically having sex with him on the dance floor. He had been so mortified that he had dumped her right there on the spot.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Sure you didn't love her with all your heart?" I asked sarcastically.

Dimitri snorted. "Oh, yeah, absolutely," he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No, in all honesty, not even my dick liked her."

I spat out the soda I had just taken a drink of. "Seriously? Dude, you were a hormonal teenage boy! She was pretty good looking! And you found no interest in her? Are you gay?" I questioned him.

Dimitri outright laughed. "No, I can assure you, I am not gay." He looked deep into my eyes, his own darker. I swallowed, the air suddenly seeming heavier. After a minute, he broke the eye contact. "I found no interest in her because she was so forward and didn't really give me a choice. Maybe if I was more comfortable, I would have found her attractive, but my mind was mostly focused on you," he admitted.

I felt myself blush. What was he doing to me?

"So, what made you ask me out?" I questioned.

"Well, it's senior year. I figure, now or never, you know?" Dimitri replied.

"I still can't believe you didn't asked me out earlier, though." I shook my head with disbelief. "I mean, I never thought you liked me, either, but I at least had a valid reason. I mean, you're the football captain with girls throwing themselves at you. Why would you notice me?"

"Because you're so unique and _didn't _throw yourself at me," Dimitri replied, taking a long drink out of his soda. "You are so beautiful and funny, and yet you never assume you should get any special treatment."

I shrugged. "I'm not anything special," I said matter-of-factly. "I'm just me."

Dimitri simply shook his head. "Someday, Roza, someday you will see you're not."

* * *

In the days following our date, we fell into a comfortable routine. Dimitri started to pick me up in the morning for school, then walked me to all my classes. After school, I would go to his practices unless I had to watch my little sister, then we would hang out. We didn't always go somewhere; sometimes we just went to the library and did homework. It didn't matter to me where we went, spending time with him was good enough.

Everyday, Dimitri sat with us at lunch and I began to notice something odd: there was unexplainable tension between Christian and Dimitri. I brought that up in one of our conversations and Dimitri simply told me that something happened a long time ago that's carried over to now. Something told me there was more to the story, but I didn't press, figuring it was a private matter which he would tell me about when he felt comfortable.

* * *

One day, about two weeks after we started going out, Dimitri began to get twitchy. He was almost feverish and very restless. At first, I wasn't concerned, figuring it was because the team had an important football game coming up, but when he didn't show up to school the day before the big game, I began to get worried.

"What could be wrong?" I fretted as we sat in the lunchroom.

Lissa frowned. "Maybe he just needed a day away? I mean, he can still go to the game, right?"

Christian, on the other hand, didn't seem concerned at all. "Maybe he just got moon fever," he joked.

I looked at him like he was insane. "Moon fever?"

Christian shrugged. "Just a thought. Maybe he was out way too late last night and crashed today?" Christian smirked.

I glared at him, then smacked his head. "Don't say shit like that! Dimitri isn't like that at all!" Still, he planted a nugget of doubt in me. It would certainly explain why Dimitri had been so twitchy lately; recently he had barely kissed me on the cheek before leaving and hardly talked to me.

Christian rubbed his head. "Ow, that was unnecessary, you bitch. I didn't even mean it like that."

"Spreading rumors and doubt about our boy, leach?"

I jumped a mile at Adrian's voice. "Jesus Christ!" I cried out, putting a hand over my heart.

Adrian plopped down next to me. "Hey, sorry, Rose," he said flippantly before turning to Christian. "You better not be."

Christian rolled his eyes. "Or what? You're gonna hit me? Try to catch me first," he said arrogantly.

Adrian growled low in his throat, glaring at Christian.

I blinked. _Did he seriously just _growl _at him? _I thought. I shook my head to clear it. "Okay, shut up both of you. Where the hell is Dimitri?" I asked, turning to glare at Adrian.

"Don't worry, doll, Dimitri is fine. He just wasn't feeling well these last couple days and didn't want to infect you. That's why he stayed home today; throwing up and all that," Adrian replied, looking utterly unconcerned.

I, on the other hand, freaked. "What? Why didn't he tell me?" I cried out. If he was that sick, why didn't he at least call me to let me know?

"Because he didn't want you to worry," Adrian replied.

"Oh, so it's better to leave me hanging and wondering where he is than to simply send me a text saying he was sick?" I said sarcastically.

"Look, Rose, I'm not him. Don't ask me questions I can't answer," Adrian snapped.

I looked at him in surprise. He had never spoken to me that way. For the first time, I really looked at him. He looked worn out and rough around the edges, but his eyes were bright and almost relaxed. He looked as if last night had been the best night of his life, but he was tired from it. Suddenly, I remembered that he hadn't been here this morning; he must have come in late. _What was going on? _

"Sorry," I muttered.

"All's forgiven," he replied, suddenly back to himself.

I sighed and went back to eating.

* * *

The weeks to Homecoming flew by. After missing that one day, Dimitri had come back and apologized for worrying me and promised to call me if he was going to disappear again. I of course forgave him; not that there was really anything _to _forgive, but still.

Things became somewhat normal afterward. Christian even became more civil towards Dimitri, which was shocking. Every day, I found myself falling for him even more. My intense feelings for him actually terrified me, but also exhilarated me at the same time. The first time we had kissed, I was afraid I was going to fly away; now, it was all I could do to keep those three little words inside me, and that scared the hell out of me. I had never been in love; the thought had never really crossed my mind. The thing that scared me the most, thought, was the fact that I had no idea if Dimitri felt the same for me. What if he didn't? What if after graduation we split up and never saw each other again?

Recently, he had begun to talk about me meeting his family; yet another terrifying notion. He wanted me to meet them before Homecoming, so they could take pictures of us. I said yes, but inside, I sincerely considering completely ditching Homecoming and running away; I could never actually do that to him, but the thought did cross my mind. Dimitri assured me that they would love me and I them, but I wasn't so optimistic.

* * *

It was finally the Homecoming dance. Our team had won the homecoming game, naturally, and Dimitri and I had celebrated privately. We didn't have sex; we had decided long ago to wait for that until we were together longer. Instead, we'd gone to his house and made out for a while before being rudely interrupted by his family coming home. It had been slightly awkward, but less so since we were both fully dressed. I'd found that Dimitri was right; his mother, father, and sisters _did _love me, and I them. We ended up talking for so long that I had to eat dinner with them. Not that I minded; my little sister was with a friend, and it wasn't like my mother, who was always working, or my father, who was always traveling, would notice I was gone. The thought had put an ache in my heart which I ignored. I had Lissa, my little sister, and now Dimitri; I didn't need anyone else. Too bad I couldn't convince myself fully of that.

Homecoming this year had ended up later than usual; it was the 30th, just a day before Halloween. Because of this, Dimitri, and I by default, had been asked to a post-Homecoming Halloween party. Dimitri had instantly said no, but after a bit of begging from me, he finally agreed to go, though reluctantly. I didn't understand why; we'd gone to several parties before but once more, I didn't question him.

* * *

The dance itself was fun now that I could spend the entire time with Dimitri, but the party was what I couldn't wait for.

Since it was a Halloween party, it was mandatory to dress up. The previous weekend, I had gotten the most amazing costume ever. Since Dimitri loved the west, I decided to dress up like a cowgirl - a sexy one. The costume was in two pieces; the top was a brown corset, light brown and with tassels while the bottom was a skirt the same color which came to a little higher than mid-thigh, the last two inches or so just the tassels. It also came with a cowboy hat and boots.

I applied the last bit of my make up and adjusted the hat just as Dimitri pulled up in my driveway. I couldn't help but smile at my reflection; I look totally hot. I couldn't wait to see Dimitri's reaction.

Dimitri knocked on the door just as I was coming down the stairs. Quickly, I walked through the kitchen to the door. I slowly turned the knob and let the door ease open.

When the door finally opened enough for Dimitri to see me, I was leaning against the counter in a sexy pose. He simply stared at me, wide-eyed for several minutes. I smirked as I waited for him to come to his senses.

While he stood frozen, I allowed my eyes to trailer over his outfit. He was wearing a werewolf costume, and it was pretty good. He had on tattered clothing and his arms appeared hairy. He must have been wearing multiple layers because he looked bulkier than usual, as if he was a werewolf half way between man and wolf. He had contacts in, giving his eyes a yellow, feral ring around the iris.

"Roza, are you _trying _to kill me?" he finally strangled out.

I giggled, something I had picked up from dating him for the last month and a half.

"Maybe," I flirted.

Dimitri bound forward and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me into his chest and crashing his lips on mine in one quick movement, a movement way too fast for me to even follow.

He kissed me passionately for several minutes until I had to break away, gasping for air. He finally pulled away, breathing as heavily as me. My arms were wound around his neck, where the costumes hair met his own. I was surprised at the soft and realistic feeling of the fake fur; I wondered how he got it to look the exact same color as his own hair.

"What was that for?" I asked breathlessly.

"Because you are gorgeous and I love you," he replied, staring at me intensely.

My breath froze in me at his words. _He loved me? _It was my turned to stare at him wide-eyed.

He gave me a puzzled look as I stayed silent, then seemed to go over his words in his mind.

He pulled away as he realised what he'd said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it quite like that," he said, nervously shifting.

I blinked a couple times, trying to remember how to breathe. I finally gasped in a breath.

"I-um, I love you too," I said quickly.

"Roza, you don't have to repeat it for my sake," he said gently.

I rolled my eyes. "Comrade, when have I ever said anything for your sake? I mean it."

Dimitri stared at me incredulously. "You're serious?"

I nodded. "Deadly."

Dimitri frowned. "Don't say that," he warned me.

I sighed, then changed the subject. Yeah, I love him, but talking about it wasn't my thing. "Are we going? Or are we gonna stand here for the rest of the night?" I asked.

Dimitri smiled. "I'm not sure I want to take you to a party near the woods with a bunch of hormonal boys dressed like _that_," he teased, but something in his eyes told me he was serious.

I rolled my eyes. "Nice try, but you're not getting out of this party. Come on, or we're gonna be late." I closed the door, which had been open the entire time, and walked out to his Jeep. I jumped into the passenger seat and waited for him to get into the driver's. He finally did and we were on our way to Avery Lazar's house for the Halloween party.

When we got there, the place was packed. There were many different costumes, the guys going mostly traditional vampire, ghost, ghoul, while the girls wore much skimpier clothing. Outside, the light was fading.

"Lissa, Chris! I didn't know you guys were coming," I exclaimed, coming up to them.

Lissa smiled, looking exactly like the angel she was dressed as. "Well, Dimitri extended the invite to us, so I figured, why not?"

"Yeah, and dragged me along," Christian muttered.

Lissa giggled. "Oh, you love it!"

I snorted. "Vampire? Really? So creative," I said sarcastically.

Christian bared his fangs, which looked creepily realistic. "No more creative than your boyfriend's costume."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Let's go dance." I pulled Dimitri with me.

About halfway through the third song, Dimitri pulled away. "We should really go back, Rose," he said, sounding utterly serious.

I frowned. "No one has tried to hit on me or anything; I don't see what the problem is."

"Rose, just..." He sighed, frustrated.

"Dimitri," I said softly, putting my hand on his cheek. "If you don't want to stay, go; I'll just hang out with Chris and Lissa."

"No! I'll stay with you," he said quickly, his eyes darting around. It was then that I noticed how feverish he looked.

"Are you okay?" I asked, worried.

Dimitri have a jerky nod. "Yeah, fine." All of his limbs were twitching.

I frowned, growing very worried. "I'll go get us drinks," I said.

Dimitri nodded. "Yes, please."

I weaved my way through other partiers to the kitchen, where I grabbed two unopened soda cans. Then I made my way back to where Dimitri had been.

I circled the room twice and the rest of the house once before I finally gave up looking for him. I approached two random people standing by the doorway. As I drew closer, I realised it was Mia Rinaldi, a junior cheerleader, and Jesse Zeklos, another football player.

"Hey, have you two seen Dimitri?" I asked.

Mia nodded. "Yeah, I just saw him go out not too long ago. To the woods."

I nodded. "Thanks." I walked passed them outside.

I was now almost frantic with worry. He hadn't looked good at all in there; I shouldn't have left him. He could be hurt.

I hesitated on the edge of the woods, wondering if I should have grabbed a flashlight. Then I steeled my resolve; Dimitri didn't have one, so I didn't need one. Besides, the moon was full tonight, lighting up the woods more than it would usually.

I began stumbling around in the woods, calling out his name.

"Dimitri! Where are you? Are you okay?" Something told me I was being an idiot, wandering around in the woods in the middle of the night, but when I turned to go back, I realised I was completely and utterly lost. I swore out loud, feeling like the stereotypical damsel in distress everyone seemed to love to read about. "Dammit all to hell," I muttered. I began walking in the direction I thought would take me back to the house.

After about ten minutes of walking, I became acutely aware that something was either following me or watching me. I felt my heart begin to speed up as fear made its way through.

_It's nothing, _I insisted, trying to convince myself. _Just some animal. It won't hurt you. _

Just as I thought this, a growl echoed through the woods.

"Fuck!" I swore again and sped up.

Soft footfalls started following me. I began jogging. All of a sudden, in a flurry of leaves something furry jumped in front of me.

It was huge.

It was huge and had fur.

It was huge and had light brown fur and large teeth.

It was huge and had light brown fur and large teeth and it was salivating.

It was huge, had light brown fur, large teeth, it was salivating, and it had emerald green eyes with a golden ring around the iris which looked creepily humane.

It looked like Adrian.

I let out a bloodcurdling scream and ran like the hounds of hell were after me. Because they were. Or it was. Whatever.

I was scared, but a detached part of me found this almost amusing. Some intuitive part of me said that that was indeed Adrian that I saw, and my terrified brain didn't even consider contesting that conclusion; it was too focused on fleeing and so believe it immediately.

Trees whipped passed me as I ran, trying not to look back. I could here Adrian behind me, speeding up then slowing down, as if he was playing with me. _That's exactly what he's doing, stupid! _My mind screamed at me hysterically.

I sped up, my breaths coming out in little spurts as I tried to escape the monster behind. The full moon, which was at first so comforting, now seemed cold and like a spotlight on me, helping other monsters find me. This thought was once more proven true as another set of paws joined the first.

I was so terrified now that I wasn't ashamed to admit it. Tears began dribbling down my face. Unbidden, the thought of the saying _Ignorance is bliss _came to mind. _Yeah, _I thought sarcastically. _Ignorance is bliss-until you're about to get eaten!_

One of the wolves - I couldn't say the actual word - leaped in front of me. I skidded to a halt, my breathing labored. I could almost feel the wolves' excitement as they circled me, forcing me to back up until my back was to a tree. I let out a pathetic whimper. _This wasn't how I thought I'd go._

Well, if this is how I was going to die, I was going to do it Rose style, not a whimpering little girl. I stood up straight, burying my fear deep down in my mind, and stared the wolves into their eyes, my head swiveling back and forth between the two of them. I tried to place the second one; after a moment of staring at the dark blue eyes with the golden ring around the iris and the darker brown hair, I realised it was Ivan Zeklos, Jesse's cousin. My breath caught. Was the whole football team wolves? _No, not Dimitri. _He would tell me if he changed into a wolf, right?

The wolves began to stalk closer to me, no longer playing. I glared at them.

"Wow, talk about picking on someone smaller," I said sarcastically, proud of myself for not letting my voice shake.

Adrian paused and cocked his head to the side, as if pondering my words. He shook his head and took another step, before pausing to listen again. All of a sudden, a dark brown blur flew into our little group, stopping in front of me, but facing Ivan and Adrian. The new wolf growled ferociously at the other two. The two wolves snarled back. The new wolf crouched, as if ready to attack Adrian and Ivan and suddenly I was terrified for them. What if they got hurt? They weren't themselves!

But for some miraculous reason, Ivan and Adrian backed off, slowly walking back into the woods backwards so they could keep a wary eye on the wolf in front of me. As soon as they disappeared into the woods, the wolf in front of me turned around.

He approached me slowly, wagging his tail, as if to say he wasn't going to hurt me. I stayed frozen as I stared into the wolf's eyes. The familiar brown stared back at me, the golden ring glowing. My mind made a million connections in an instant. _The speed, the growling, the eye color changing, the near shifting when mad..._

"Dimitri..." I breathed.

The wolf let out a soft, high pitched whine and lowered his head. He continued coming towards me until he could touch me. He sniffed around my body, almost as if to make sure I was okay. I held my breath, still scared, wondering if at any given moment he would take a chomp out of me.

"Rose?"

I jumped a mile at Christian's voice, causing wolf Dimitri to give a slight growl.

"Christian?" I cried out. "What are you doing here! You're gonna get killed."

Christian snorted. "No, you're the one who will get killed if you stay here any longer." He looked at wolf Dimitri. "Why the hell would you let her go into the woods _during the full moon?"_

Wolf Dimitri gave an odd grunt and looked at Christian with almost accusing eyes.

"And don't even think about thinking about blaming me for this! You should have just told her you weren't feeling good and gone home," Christian snapped.

Wolf Dimitri bowed his head and let out another whine, this one louder.

Christian gave a huge sigh. "Alright, Rose. Let's go. Here's to hoping that none of my family are out here."

Wolf Dimitri cocked his head to the side, perking his ears, then shook his head.

"Sure about that?" Christian asked skeptically.

Wolf Dmitri nodded his head.

Christian sighed. "Alright. C'mon, Rosie, jump on my back."

I snorted. "Yeah, okay. What are you gonna do, carry me out of here? I'd be better off being the one to carry you."

Christian rolled his eyes...and disappeared. I let out a yelp when I found myself in the air. After a second, my brain caught up with what happened.

I stared Christian in shock as he gave me a toothy smile, showing his fangs.

"Please tell me those are fake," I pleaded.

Christian shook his head. "No can do. But don't worry, I don't bite. Much." He chuckled.

Dimitri gave a growl. _Explained their animosity._

Christian rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, yeah, take a joke, dude. I'm leaving now."

"Dimitri-" was all I was able to get out before I was flying.

In less than a second, I was back at the house and on my feet, swaying next to Christian.

"Rose! There you are! Where were you?" Lissa's voice called out from somewhere behind me.

"Don't say anything to her, okay?" Christian said pleadingly.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "You mean she doesn't know?"

He shook his head. "No, but I'll tell her, promise."

I sighed, suddenly tired. "Take me home please," I replied.

He hesitated. "Okay," he said quietly, just as Lissa came up to us.

"Rose - why are you cover in leaves?" Lissa asked.

I looked down in surprise. Huh. I did have several leaves on me. Must have been from when I was running. I shrugged, not feeling up to talking.

"I'm taking Rose home; are you gonna come with?" Christian asked.

Lissa nodded, looking concerned. "Yeah. What about Dimitri?"

I hesitated. "He had to leave. Family issue."

"Oh..." Lissa nodded in understanding.

We drove to my house in silence. Once we got there, I simply left the car and walked into the house and up to my room. I stripped out of my costume, put on a t-shirt I'd stolen from Dimitri and curled up in my bed.

I wanted my brain to simply shut down so I could sleep, but of course I wasn't that lucky. So I resigned to the hurricane which was my mind.

_Dimitri is a freaking wolf! He turned into a WOLF at the full moon! Christian is a vampire! This is impossible! It's possible! I experienced it! Maybe I was sleeping. It was a Halloween trick. No, that's impossible! Werewolves and vampires are impossible! I saw it, I felt it, I heard it! Ivan and Adrian are werewolves too! Was Tasha a vampire? Was the rest of Dimitri's family? Were they really going to kill me? Oh, my GOD! I almost died today!_

The thoughts didn't stop, even when I finally fell asleep. They simply turned into dreams, into nightmares, from which I couldn't wake up.

_Roza._

He was chasing me.

_Roza, wake up._

He was going to kill me.

_Roza!_

He was going to -

"Roza! It isn't real! Wake up!"

I sat up with a jolt, breathing hard.

"Dimitri?" I asked, glancing around bewildered.

"I'm right here, Roza," he murmured, caressing my cheek softly.

I leaned my head against it, closing my eyes, before remembering my nightmare. My eyes snapped open and I sprang away from him, moving to the opposite side of the bed. He watched me, his brown eyes sad and remorseful.

"Don't be afraid of me, Roza," he whispered. "I won't hurt you." He stayed away from me, on the opposite side of the bed, though.

"You - you- you..." I couldn't get the words out.

Dimitri sighed. "Yes, I am a werewolf. Yes, I change at the full moon, but I can change at any time; the full moon is mandatory, though. It's genetic; my father passed it down to me and my sisters. We change once we hit puberty. We don't kill. We become wolves whenever we feel like it, with the exception of the full moon, of course. We always make sure no one is in the woods. I'm sorry you got caught up in that." He sighed. "I was going to tell you, soon. That's why I didn't want to go to the party; I knew I would change and I didn't want you anywhere near me because of this." He gestured to where I was huddle underneath the blanket far away from him.

I relaxed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Roza, I love you, I really, truly do. I have since the first time I saw you. Please, please, forgive me for not telling you. If you need a couple of days to digest this, take them. Just...please, don't hate me," he begged.

"I could never hate," I said softly, not even realising I said it until he looked at me with surprise. I sighed, knowing it was the truth. "I love you, Dimitri," I continued. "I think I always have, I just didn't want to get my hopes up. I'd say that I need a couple days away from you, but they won't really change anything. I mean, yeah, I'm kinda pissed that you didn't tell me, but I understand at the same time. It's a big thing to tell someone." I sighed again.

"Roza..." Dimitri hesitantly stretched his arms out for me to crawl into.

Slowly, I unraveled the blanket from around me before crawling to him. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly to his chest. "I love you, my Roza. I'm so, so, sorry you were almost hurt yesterday. I'll never let anything happen to you." He kissed my hair.

I leaned my head against his chest. "I love you too, my Comrade. You're the best thing that's happened to me."

We stayed that way for a long time, just basking in each others warmth.

Finally he pulled away, grinning. "How about a ride?"

I could help the grin that spread across my face. "Bring it on, cowboy."

* * *

_**A/N: I know a bit after Halloween, but it was part of a contest, so I couldn't post until today. So...what do you think? This will be a two-shot, the second chapter of this isn't gonna be posted for a while, however. I am participating in NaNoWriMo, so for the next month I'll be focusing on writing my own original novel. Which also means no Never Too Late, or any other updates. I'll try to update Never Too Late sometime soon, but it's not looking too good. I'll do my best, however(: **_


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